2019 Bears Ears Summer Gathering—Calls for Unity at Largest Meeting Yet

2019 Bears Ears Summer Gathering—Calls for Unity at Largest Meeting Yet
Homecoming was the theme of this weekend’s fifth annual Bears Ears Summer Gathering, which is organized by the grassroots nonprofit Utah Diné Bikéyah (UDB). This year the gathering gave a special welcome to Pueblo relatives. This year’s gathering was the biggest yet, according to Utah Diné Bikéyah communications director Alastair Bitsóí, who said more than 800 people registered for the event. “You see the support from all over the Four Corners region,” Bitsóí said, adding that there were members of the Taos, Acoma, Jemez, Santa Clara and other Pueblos, members of the Diné Nation and multiple Ute nations, as well as attendees with Cherokee, Dakota, Hopi and Indigenous South American ancestry. http://bit.ly/2YvbG4l – Salt Lake Tribune

Sweating under the bison headpiece, dancer Chet Martinez said the opportunity to dance for Native people at the Summer Gathering energized him. A member of the San Ildefonso Pueblo in northern New Mexico, Martinez was visiting Bears Ears for the first time. “Even though we are spread out as a Native race, this gives us a chance to come together and unite and combine so we all can be as one,” he said. Held at the Kigalia Ranger Station, it was the first time the contemporary version of the traditional Pueblo ceremonial dance has been performed in the Bears Ears region, organizers said. http://bit.ly/2JZ2RGt – KUER.org (NPR)

Another Important Step Toward Protecting Greater Chaco, Grand Canyon
Congress has taken an important step toward permanently protecting two national treasures in the American West. The House Natural Resources Committee approved H.R. 1373, the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act, which will withdraw a million acres from future mining of uranium and minerals around the Grand Canyon. It also passed H.R. 2181, the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act, which protects Chaco Canyon from oil and gas development. http://bit.ly/2K1EBmZ – Los Alamos Daily Post

Podcast: Oil and Gas Development in New Mexico
Panelists Stephanie Garcia Richard, New Mexico Land Commissioner; Todd Leahy, Deputy Director of New Mexico Energy and Natural Resources; and Paul Reed, Preservation Archaeologist, Archaeology Southwest joined the Center for Western Priorities for an edition of “Go West, Young Podcast” on July 17. Host Aaron Weiss led a discussion that included consideration of how to protect the Greater Chaco Landscape. Listen at the link. http://bit.ly/2YmlUnm – Center for Western Priorities

Lawmakers Advance Legislation to Curtail Trafficking of Sacred Cultural Items
A group of U.S. lawmakers made another push Thursday to ban collectors and vendors from exporting Native American ceremonial items to foreign markets, including Paris, where there has been uproar over auction houses listing tribal pieces for sale over the years. The lawmakers introduced legislation that would increase penalties within the United States for trafficking objects that tribes hold sacred by increasing prison time from five years to 10 years for violating the law more than once. At the same time, the bill would establish a framework for collectors to return protected items to tribes and avoid facing penalties. https://wapo.st/2YkRnGn – Washington Post

Commentary and Analysis: Hidden Agenda behind BLM’s Move to Colorado?
Two former Bureau of Land Management directors say plans to move the agency’s headquarters to Colorado are an early step toward abolishing the entire agency and transferring millions of acres of federal land to the states. “I think the endgame is to try to make it almost impossible to manage these public lands,” said former BLM Director Robert V. Abbey, who served in the Obama administration from 2009-2012. “It’s just another step that they are taking that will add credence to those advocates that say these lands should be managed by the states.” http://bit.ly/2Yhf1Ut – Bloomberg Environment

University of New Mexico Professor Brings Traditional Pueblo Pottery-Making to the Classroom
Every culture has pottery, says assistant professor Clarence Cruz, who teaches Pueblo pottery classes at The University of New Mexico. Regardless of anyone’s ancestry, every culture uses clay for utilitarian and aesthetic purposes, from Mexican saltillo floor tiles to fine Asian pottery, to the classic blue and white Delft ware of Europe to the highly coveted pottery of the Native American pueblos of New Mexico and the Southwest. “It always has a purpose, whether it’s utilitarian, ceremonial, or a status symbol,” Cruz said, as he meditatively scraping a pot to smooth the surface. “We all have ties to clay. How does your culture still use it?” http://bit.ly/2YjJPDP – UNM Newsroom

Job Opportunity, Preservation Archaeologist, Archaeology Southwest
Archaeology Southwest seeks a flexible and detail-oriented individual to help prevent, detect, and respond to violations of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) on Tribal Lands. The individual will be part of a team that conducts and supports archaeological resource damage assessments, produces damage assessment reports, facilitates ARPA training sessions, and engages with public audiences to prevent looting and increase reports of violations. Applicants must have a Master’s degree in anthropological archaeology. Experience with Native American community engagement, public health, ecological restoration, professional development training, media management, law enforcement, or other relevant fields is a plus. The selected candidate will be part of a team that works closely with Tribal and Federal government agencies. http://bit.ly/2K086pu – Archaeology Southwest

Job Opportunity, Historic Preservation Officer, Quechan Indian Tribe
Position: Historic Preservation Officer; Salary: $37,500-$45,000 annually, DOE; Opening: Wednesday, July 17, 2019; Closing: Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Historic Preservation Officer, under the Supervision of the Tribal Administrator, will perform duties in establishing, planning, directing, and coordinating the work of the Historic Preservation Office. Will oversee the work of contractors engaged in tribal construction activities and promote protection through monitoring, education, and research. Will provide public awareness with the mission to promote, protect, preserve and manage all matters relating to tribal environmental and cultural resources. More information: http://bit.ly/2YeZswz.

2019 Pecos Conference Update
The 2019 Pecos Conference organizers would like to let you know that the deadline of abstract submission (oral and poster presentation) for the Pecos Conference is extended to Friday, July 26. Please submit approximately 120–150 words of your abstract to the website (pecosconference.org) by 7/26.

2019 Kiln Conference Coming up in October
The 2019 Southwest Kiln Conference will be held on October 4–6, 2019, in Globe, Arizona, at Gila Pueblo, Besh Ba Gowah,and the Timber Camp Recreation Area of the Tonto National Forest. As always attendance is free and open to the public, so come up to Globe and learn about the exciting things being done in the fields of prehistoric pottery replication and experimental archaeology. Friday we have presentations and demonstrations by archaeologist and potters; Saturday we are firing pottery using different methods. https://www.swkiln.com

In Memoriam: Gaylen Lee
Gaylen Lee made sharing his Native American culture and helping indigenous people the focus of his life. He did that as a cultural leader of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians and as an archaeologist, author, activist and former health care administrator. The North Fork man could speak his tribe’s endangered language fluently. He loved teaching it, accompanied by the reminder that his tribe’s traditional name is Nim, not Mono. http://bit.ly/2YkQkGr – Fresno Bee

Lecture Opportunity, Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Stuart Ashman, Executive Director, Santa Fe International Folk Market; Former Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs; Former Executive Director and Curator, Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA), who will give a lecture, “History of U.S.–Cuba Relations and New Mexico’s Connection” on July 29 at 6:00 p.m. at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the Voices From the Past Lecture Series held annually. Admission is by subscription or $15 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at tel: 505 366-2775; email: southwestseminar@aol.com; web: southwestseminars.org

Thank you to Albert Lannon for contributing to today’s edition.

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Questions? sat-editor@archaeologysouthwest.org